"Thermionic" brand Bass Amps?

Calaverasgrande · #1 05-21-2011, 03:22 PM

Saw the Eugene Oregon band "Rye Wolves" last night. Couldn't help but notice the guitar and bass amps were both obvious custom jobs. No faceplates. Painted chassis (powdercoat?) in a headbox. Blatant glowing valves showing through the grill.
I cornered the bassist later on and inquired after the provenance of the heads. Apparently the maker is a company called Thermionic and they are neighbors of Verellen. The owner and Ben of Verellen are actually friends and hang out often.
He told me his amp is the prototype of all the other Thermionic bass heads. I tried searching for them, but such a generic name (thermionic describes any kind of tube circuit, its a fancy way of saying, an electrical thingy that heats up to pass electrons) is hard to constrain a search around.
Anyone else aware of these amps?
They sounded good. Kinda Matampish with a little of the thick low mid beef, but also something else going on.

KramerBassFan · #2 05-21-2011, 03:33 PM

Now i'm intrigued.

Corey Y · #3 05-21-2011, 03:38 PM

Is that the same guy who does "Thermionic Effects"? I know they're in the Pacific NW.

PunkRocker33133 · #4 05-21-2011, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corey Y

Is that the same guy who does "Thermionic Effects"? I know they're in the Pacific NW.

That would make sense if they were near Verellen, because they're in that area

Calaverasgrande · #5 05-21-2011, 04:55 PM

I guess that would sound about right. I tried to milk the bassist of Rye Wolves for more info, but he had other stuff going on. Friends whats-upping him etc. Not everybody wants to hang out and dish gear after they get off the stage. I know I don't!

I don't know why I am alway sgassgin fro another head. I really like my Mesa, and I am fated to own another Traynor YBA 1a someday. But I still am interested in knowing about ANY tube bass heads. More so if they are USA made by people that are into heavy goodness. Which appears to be the case of the Verellen and maybe the Thermionic guys.

PunkRocker33133 · #6 05-21-2011, 06:01 PM

I've heard the build quality on the Verellens is kind of lacking, but that definitely wouldn't stop me from getting a Meatsmoke, so I get that feeling for sure

Corey Y · #7 05-21-2011, 06:01 PM

Yeah, it's the same guy. The website really has nothing, but when I looked at the myspace for the company there were pics of amps and one of them was captioned as being made for Rye Wolves. I wish the company had more of an internet presence, because his work seems really top notch based on his tube preamp pedal.

Calaverasgrande · #8 05-22-2011, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PunkRocker33133

I've heard the build quality on the Verellens is kind of lacking, but that definitely wouldn't stop me from getting a Meatsmoke, so I get that feeling for sure

I hadn't heard the build was all that bad. but compared to a Matamp style wire job it does look messy.